"And
God said, 'This is the sign of the covenant I am making between
me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all
generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it
will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Never
again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.'"
Genesis
9:12-13,15

One
of the most popular scenes available for decorating baby nurseries is
that of Noah's ark with the a big boat, cute animals and a pretty rainbow.
This image is fine to use as a beautiful image of God's faithfulness,
and represents a happy end to the story. But let's not forget that the
flood is very much the opposite from being a happy children's story
- it is the most terrible scene of judgment in all of the Bible. Every
human being died in one great cataclysm because mankind had sank to
such depravity that God was sorry that

h

e even made them.

I
had a hard time imagining what human beings could do that would merit
such anger on God's part until I heard about the horrors the Nazis committed
in WW2 concentration camps, or of

the
deaths of thousands in torture chambers and by nerve agents in

Iraq
in even just the past few years. Humans really are capable of wickedness
to the limits of the imagination. On Sept. 11, I remember wondering
why God

didn't swoop down
and put an end to pockets of evil that are responsible for such misery
on earth. Of course, the infection is universal - if judgment started,
where would it end?

In
the light of this, the first covenant that God made has a profound message
to us. The word for "rainbow" is used for "bow"
through the rest of scriptures, the weapon of battle. The sign of the
rainbow is to say that God has laid down

his

"bow,"

h

is weapon,
and has promised not to repeat the judgment of the flood, even if humans
do not change. It is

because
humans are so precious in the eyes of God that

h

e constrains

h

imself
to finding another answer to the dilemma of sin than the obvious one
of universal judgment.

Even
in this early story we see forward to God's ultimate desire for mercy
rather than punishment for sin. He will finally bring it to maturity
in Christ, who would extend mercy to sinners and a permanent covenant
of peace with God through His atoning blood. That covenant is the ultimate
answer to sin, the final